Mop and brush cleaning device



Sept. 4, 1951 E. GOLDBERG ETAL MOP AND BRUSH CLEANING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1948 INVENTORS.

.MAX GOLDBERG, JACK GOLDBERG, BY

- 7 70 1k V ATTORNEY5 P 5 E. GOLDBERG ETAL 08 MOP AND BRUSH CLEANING DEVICE Filed Aug. 31, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. MAX GOLDBERG, JACK GOLDBERG,

BY 8: EDWARD GOLDBERG ATTORNE Y5 Patented Sept. 4, 1951 UNITED Mor AND. BRUSH CLEANINGIDEVICE Edward, Goldberg, Max A. Goldberg, and. Jack (loldberg, New York,.N. Y.

Application AugustBI, 1948, Serial No. 47-,0-28

This invention relatesto a... mop. and..brush cleaning device.

The principal obiect. of this. invention is the provision of a cleaning device. for..mops.. and brushes, adapted for use within .the home. and. especially in apartments in .multipl.e dwellings situated in large, crowded cities. It. is a. serious problem in these apartments to clean. a map or brush after it has been. used for the. usual household cleaning purposes. Many housewives find it. necessary to resort to. shaking the. mopsand brushes: out. of thewindow, but. this practice is undesirable inevery: respect. -The present invention relates to a cleaning device. which may be used in the apartment. itself. It isa cabinetenclosed. devicewhich prevents. dispersal of the dust and other foreign matter which the mop or brush collects duringthe course of. the usual cleaning operations. The dust. and other foreign matter are directed to-a removable pan or tray for accumulation until such time as i-t-maybe desired to dispose of the same through conventional garbage and rubbish disposing facilities.

Another object oi this invention is the provision of a mopandbrush. cleaner ofthe character described, which is attractive in outward appearance, thereby enabling its use a small apartment with limited closet space, without unduly detracting from the appearance of the apartment and its furnishings. a

A further object of i this invention is the provision of a cleaning deviceof thecharacter described which may beused for map and brush storing purposes in addition to the cleaning pur-. poses. above mentioned.

Briefly this: invention comprises a cabinet, a pair of mop and brush heaters mounted in the cabinet. and. a removable tray at the bottom of the cabinet below the beater-s. The cabinet is open at. the top and this provided witha cover which serves. as a. closure for the open top, both during the. cleaning operation: and at such times as: the. device is used tor storing purposes. A small opening is. provided in the cover through which the mop. or brush, handle may project during the cleaning operation: or at such times. as the mop or brush is. stored the cabinet. It will shortly become apparent that. when the device i used for cleaning purposes, the outwardly extending; handle of; the. mop or brush is. held. in. the hand and caused to: reciprocate axially there of. This causesthe mop. or brush proper.- to engage the boaters when ittravelshoth upwardly and. downwardly... Each vertical stroke, in either direction, provides a. cleaning effect: and all: of

, sfolaniis. (01.15 142) 2. a the strokes. combined constitute. the cleaning. op,- eration. A handle. is: provided on the cabinet. whereby the cabinet and all or. its contents may be carried from one. place to. another within the apartment. .1 A preferred form of this. invention is; shown byway or illustration in the accompanying dram ing in which: Fig. 1 is a. front. view thereof, partly broken away and. in vertical section to disclose. the op.- erative. parts; of the. device;

Fig. 2 is a verticalsectionthrough said; device asviewed from. one. side. or end thereof;

Fig. 31is. a horizontal section therethrough on the line 3--3. of 1;

Fig. 4. is another horizontal section therethrough on the. line 4-1-4. of Fig. 1;:

.Fig. 5. is an enlarged". fragmentary view... partly in horizontal section, showing. the position. of. the mop or brush. relative to.- the. two. boaters or the device during thecourse of acl'eaning operation;

Fig. 6 is a side view of the device herein claimed, partly. broken away at: the bottom to expose the removable collecting: tray which: is itself shown partly. removed from the cabinet;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of the front. of the cabinet, the cover -being shown in open position to reveal. the opening through which the men or brush handle protrudes: during the course of a cleaning operation as well as when the device is used solely: for storage. purposes; and

.Fig. 8: is a. fragmentary, perspective view of one of the heaters against which the men or brushis rubbed during the: course of a cleaning operation. i

The. mopand brush cleaning device herein claimed includes a. cabinet H1 having a cover l t hingedly mounted thereon by means of hinges [2. The cover may be swung into open or closed: position, as needed. A bailon handle l 3. is piv otally connected to the cabinet at pivotal points 14- and [5 respectively. The handle swings ct its ownweightto. itsposition 0t rest ("see Fig. 6) and; in its. operative position it is elevated as shown in Fig. 1. The cabinet should preferably be substantially rectangularin horizontal section and the handle should, of course, be shaped accordingly. Any conventional type of handle maybe. used for the purpose of the present invention.

. Cover I II has an opening 20 formed therein and it will be noted in Fig. '2" that. said opening is-substantially T-shapedi. Flexible rubber flaps M are affixed to the cover H along the edges of the T-shaped opening. These rubber flaps cover the stem of the T and also its cross-arms on either side of the stem, leaving only a small uncovered the cabinet to the inside of the cabinet, thereby preventing escape of the dust and dirt during the p course of the cleaning operation.

At the bottom of the cabinet, on the inside walls thereof, downwardly sloping flanges are provided. These flanges perform twoimportant functions: they serve to support mop and brush beater unit 26 and they serve as a chute to directthe dust and other foreign matter which the heaters remove from mop or'brush 2! into removable dust-pan or tray. 28. .The removable dust pan is slidably. mounted on flanges 29 formed on the inside walls of the cabinet below, and spaced from sloping flanges 25. There is an opening 30 in the back wall of the cabinet through which the removabletray may be inserted into the cabinet or removed therefrom.

.2 Beater units 26 and 26a. comprise the heart of this invention. Each beater unit consists of a pair of wire grilles which extend generally vertically'in substantially planar form and held in parallelispaced relationship by cross-bars 31 and 38. Each wire grille comprises a plurality of spaced, horizontally-extending .wavy or sinuous wires 39 mounted on aframe 40. As indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, the beater unit 26a is of U-shape in plan view, the yokeportion of such shape forming one of the sides of the cleaning and storage zone, the legs ofthe shape forming the end walls of such zone, the yoke portion or side being preferably located at the rear of the zone. Beater unit 26 is a fiat or planar-like structure, the length of which approaches the length of the distance between the endzones of beater unit 26a; unit 26 forms .the opposite side of the cleaning-and storage zone and is capable of bodily movement toward and from the opposite side of thezone provided by the yoke of unit 26a, the twounits being capable of relative movement in the direction of. width of the zone, the dimensions of unit 26 permitting the telescoping effect without affecting the ends of the zone provided by the endzones of unit 26a.

.At least one of the, units is spring-supported. The drawings illustrate unit 26 as so to supported by av plurality of leaf-springs 5.0, this showing being illustrative. Thelsprings are located between the unit and the front wall. of. the casing and. exert, pressure on the unit in a direction to move the latter toward the yoke. or side of the other unit 26a- Mounting of springs 50 on'element 26 is preferred due to the fact that the particular form of the composite opening 20, 2|, has the front to rear extension for adjustment of the handle extending toward the frontof the cover, and. thus in the same direction as the unit 26 is related to unit 2601..v Unit 26a, instead-of resting in contact with the rear wall of. the. easing, may also be and-preferablyis supportedin spaced relation to said wall by springs 10,. (Figs. 2 and 5) or their equivalent, to permit unit 260:, to, also yield under emergency conditions, as when-the mop movements. vertically .change direction... at, .whichitime. .the. increased: thickness set up may create a bulge too large to permit the yield of springs 50 to compensate for the temporary conditions. Where springs 10 are employed, the additional space required by the conditions can be provided by the yielding of such springs 10. Such arrangement permits unit 26 to yield when the mop or brush is inserted into the cleaning and storage zone, the unit, in the absence of the mop or brush, being positioned to present the minimum width to the zone through .the action of springs 50. Obviously, this sprin arrangement may be reversed to provide unit 26a as the yieldingunit, the above arrangement being preferred due to the respective shapes and dimensions of-units 26 and 26a.

At'thebottom of U-shaped beater unit 26a is a plurality of wavy or corrugated wires 60 which run parallel to each other and at right angles to the-yoke-or side wall of the beater unit. These wires 68' provide a stop for the mop to prevent it from making contact with the. dust and dirt in the pan. V

It will be apparent from-the foregoing that a rectangular enclosure isprovided betweenthe two beater units, a bottom for. said enclosure being provided by wires which .are connected to the. U-shaped beater unit 26a. 112 is in this enclosure that the brush ormop, 21 is reciprocated for the cleaning purposes of this invention. .It is also in this enclosure .that the mop or brush is stationed for storing purposes. When the mop or brush is reciprocated vertically of the beater unit it engages horizontalwires 39 which extend at right angles relative tothe direction of. reciprocation. ,The yokeof the U.- shaped,beater cooperates with beater 26 to. clean the front and back of the mop or. brush and. the side arms of said U-shaped beater cooperate to clean the sides of the brush or mop. The brush. or mop may also be reciprocated horizontally of. the heaters and in such case it is brought into contact with wires 60 to clean the bottom of the brush or mop.

Figure 5 illustrates somewhat the manner in which the two units are operative, assuming that the unit 26 is spring supported and unit 26a is backed by spring backing elements 10. The dotted line position of unit 26 may represent the position of the unit in the absence of the mop or brush, in which case the springs 50 are active to advance the unit to such position. When the mop or brush, indicated illustratively in. dotted lines at 21, is inserted. unit 26 1s moved outward to permit the cleaning zone to receive it, thus placing the springs under tension to apply pressure on the sides of the mopunder the spring pressure on one sideand the; resistance on the other. When the mop or brush is reciprocated vertically, unit 26 will present this position, in-

icated illustratively in full lines, in the vicinity of the mop at any point in its length of recipro cation, butdue to the spring activity may cause portions of the unit 26 beyond such mop position to tend to rock. Hence, unit 26a may be more or less stabilized in position, but unit 26 may assume'varied positions due to rocking, but at all times during the reciprocations, the mop or brush itself will be subjected to the pressure conditions referred to, the result being that as it is being moved over the assembled units. the oppositesides of the mop or brush are being subjected to the beating action produced by the movement of the mop over the wires 39. In other words, the mop or brush is readily given a beating in the generally'accepted use of the term.

, ;:As. indicated in the drawings and in detail in 5 Fig. 8, the dual wall formation of each unit is preferred, even though some mops and brushes are so formed as to permit the beating action to be limited to the inner of the two walls. Certain mops and brushes are formed in such manner that, during the reciprocations, portions thereof, such as strands of flexible type, may move outwardly between adjacent wires. The outer wall will tend to support these and prevent liability of the strands to mat or to affect freedom of reciprocation, and at the same time serve as additional beaters for the portions of the mops or brushes which engage the wires of the outer wall.

The foregoing is a description of a preferred form of this invention given solely for illustrative purposes. Modifications and refinements may be incorporated into this form and other forms may be provided within the broad scope of the invention. For example, an offset 6| is provided in the yoke of beater 26a. This offset accommodates the wing nuts which are occasionally used to fasten the mop or brush to the handle. Were it not for said offset, the wing nuts might engage the wires of the beater and thereby interfere with the reciprocating movements of the mop or brush. It will also be noted that one of the sides 62 of dust pan 28 is open. This dust pan may accordingly be used in conjunction with a broom or mop to collect the dust and dirt from the floor which the mop or brush alone cannot pick up. A whisk broom holder may be attached to the outside of the casing to support a whisk broom which might be used in conjunction with the open dust pan.

We claim:

l. A cleaning and storage assemblage for implements of the mop and brush type comprising a casing having an upper cleaning and storage zone and a lid closure through which the implement and its handle are insertible for cleaning or storage purposes, said casing having a lower zone equipped with a removable dust collector in communication with said cleaning and storage zone, said latter zone having apair of beater units each carrying a vertical succession of spaced horizontally-extending Wire beaters, said units having similar vertical dimensions and differing in overall horizontal dimensions, one of said units being formed to produce and present one side. and the opposite ends of the cleaning and storage zone with the other unit producing and presenting the opposite side of such zone,

said units being mounted to present the front and I rear side faces of the cleaning and storage zone as relatively movable toward and from each other with at least one of the units spring-supported to thereby permit compensating yield between the units in such front and rear dimension of the cleaning and storage zone, whereby a positioned implement may be reciprocated vertically within such cleaning zone with the units applying approximately uniform pressures to the implement during the reciprocating strokes to provide approximate uniformity in the beater activities.

2. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that the unit carrying the ends includes a bottom wall formed of parallel spaced rods each having its length extending in the direction of 6 relative movement of the units, said bottom be ing positioned above the entrance to the dust collector.

3. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that the wire beaters of the units generally extend in individual planes and with the wire beaters as of sinuous type lengthwise, certain of the beaters of one of the sides including an intermediate length of non-sinuous type and arouately curved outwardly of the cleaning and storage zone whereby an implement securing fixture may reciprocate therein without affecting the integrity of the beater units.

4. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that each of the beater units is formed as a frame carrying a pair of depending wire grilles in spaced relation with each grille presenting a succession of Wire beaters to thereby present each grille as of planar characteristic with the frame formed to preserve the parallelism of the grilles.

5. An assemblage as in claim 4 characterized in that corresponding wire beaters of the grilles of a unit generally extend on the same plane.

6. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that each of the beater units is formed as a frame carrying a pair of depending wire grilles in spaced relation with each grille presenting a downward succession of wire beaters to thereby present each grille as of planar characteristic with the frame formed to preserve the parallelism of grilles, the unit which carries the opposite ends also having such ends as of the dual grille formation in addition to its side.

'7. An assemblage as in claim 1 characterized in that the unit which carries the ends has its side as the rear side of the cleaning and storage zone, with the other unit presenting the front side of the zone and spring-supported to tend to move the unit toward the side of the first unit to thereby present the zone as of minimum dimensions in the absence of the implement and expansible through yield of the second unit in presence of the implement.

8. An assemblage as in claim '7 characterized in that the lid of the casing includes an opening of T-contour with the zone at the intersection of the arms of the opening permanently open for the passage of the implement handle, each of the arms of the opening being equipped with flexibile flap closures to thereby normally permit free handle movement throughthe permanently open zone with the arm zones sealed against escape of dust and permit free shifting of the handle in thedirection of length of the arms during implement manipulation during cleaning of the implement.

EDWARD GOLDBERG. MAX A. GOLDBERG. JACK GOLDBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,742,612 Minkove Jan. 7, 1930 1,804,229 Powell May 5, 1931 2,250,015 Fraas July 22, 1941 

